Talk:North Devon's Biosphere Reserve/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Khazar2 (talk · contribs) 00:41, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

I'll be glad to take this review. Initial comments to follow in the next 1-3 days. Thanks in advance for your work on this one! -- Khazar2 (talk) 00:41, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Initial comments
On first pass, this seems strong and ripe for promotion. It relies heavily on primary-ish sources (UNESCO and Devon government docs, the biosphere reserve's website), but none of the claims are extreme and the sources seem sufficiently reliable. I made some minor copyedits as I went; please double-check me to make sure I haven't inadvertently introduced any errors, and feel free to revert anything you disagree with.

Only one initial quibble:


 * "Fine examples of the remains" -- it's a small point, but we should attribute the judgement "fine" in-text, or simply say "examples of..."; as a subjective opinion, this probably shouldn't be in "Wikipedia's voice". -- Khazar2 (talk) 02:13, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Jack (talk) 12:14, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Closing review for copyright concerns
After some spotchecks, the language and sentence structures of the article appears to me unnecessarily close to that of the sources. I've listed some examples below for reference; this is from spotchecks and isn't meant to be a complete list of issues here.

Because of these concerns, I'm not listing the article as a GA at this time; it seems like it needs a more comprehensive revision than would be reasonable for this review. I hope you won't be discouraged, though. Paraphrasing is a difficult gray area, and something I struggle with in my own contributions at times. I'd suggest checking out WP:PARAPHRASE and revising per its suggestions. Some of this content should be rephrased to avoid such close matches. The amount of factual content may also need to be reduced in favor of a more summary-ish style to avoid reproducing the sources "beat for beat", unless multiple sources for things like the plant species can be found and blended.

Best of luck in your revisions of this one--I'm sorry this isn't passing now, but it's strong in other respects, and I hope you'll be renominating soon. Let me know if you have any questions or if there's any way I can help, and thanks for all your work! -- Khazar2 (talk) 02:41, 28 March 2013 (UTC)


 * You're probably right after looking at those examples. I'll have a proper look at it very soon and try to clear up those issues before renominating. Thanks for the copyedit anyway, Jack (talk) 12:15, 28 March 2013 (UTC)
 * You're very welcome--thanks again for your work on this one, I hope it makes GA soon! -- Khazar2 (talk) 13:12, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Examples for reference
Article: "...a rich mixture of grasses, sedges and herbs such as rough poppy (Papaver hybridum) and toothed medick (Medicago lupulina). Scrub invasion occurs with native species such as willows, privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and common blackberry (Rubus fruticosus), and introduced species such as sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). The landward side of the dunes is particularly important for lichens, some 60 species having been recorded from the compacted soils of that area alone"

Source: "...a rich mixture of grasses, sedges and herbs such as Rough Poppy Papaver hybridum and Toothed Medick Medicago lupinula. It tends to be invaded by scrub of native Willows Salix spp, Privet Ligustrum vulgare and Bramble Rubus fruticosus agg, and introduced Sea Buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides ... An area on the landward side of the dunes is particularly important for lichens, some 60 species having been recorded from the compacted soils of that area alone."

Article: "The dune slacks separate the dunes and may flood after heavy rain. They support round-headed club-rush (Scirpoides holoschoenus), which was discovered here in the 17th century; sharp rush; round-leaved wintergreen (Pyrola rotundifolia ssp maritima); early gentian (Gentianella anglica); and many orchid species."

Source: "Between the dunes are slacks which flood according to rainfall. Other notable plants occur here, including the Roundheaded Club-Rush Scirpus holoschoenus, discovered in the 17th century at about its present location, Sharp rush Juncus acutus, Round-leaved Wintergreen Pyrola rotundifolia ssp maritima, Early Gentian Gentianella anglica and orchids"

Article: "There is evidence of human occupation of North Devon from Mesolithic times onward. The remains of flint scatters from this era have been found on coastal headlands, and Westward Ho! has an ancient prehistoric midden in the clays below the sand on the beach"

Source : "The earliest evidence for human occupation in North Devon comes from the Mesolithic Period, where the remains of flint scatters have been found on the coastal headlands. At Westward Ho!, an ancient prehistoric rubbish dump or "midden" lies hidden in the clays below the sand on the beach."

Article: "The Biosphere Reserve Partnership supports farms that operate in a manner that recognises the positive and negative environmental impacts of farm practices, not only on their own land, but also in the wider environment"

Source: "... farming in a manner that recognises the environmental impacts (positive and negative) of farm practices on a specific of the holding but also beyond farm boundaries, in the wider environment."